The Empiricists

History of Western Philosophy #5

by Roger Woolhouse

"One of the great historic controversies in philosophy," according to Bertrand Russell, is that between empiricists--"best represented by the British philosophers, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume"--and rationalists. This book sets the empiricists in their contemporary and cultural context, examines their various approaches to philosophy, and highlights the significance of their ideas to 20th-century thinking. By focusing on what the "empiricists" actually have to say, rather than on their classification as such, Woolhouse incidentally shows how unreliable these conventional labels can be.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Cecile Lansford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for summer reading for Early Modern Philosophy next term. Reasonably interesting. It’s an overview of 5 philosophers - I found the chapters on the philosophers I was already familiar with more interesting and easier to follow but that says more about me than the book itself. There was a nice balance of context and information and smooth cohesion between the chapters.

[Cihan Deniz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odağında 17. ve 18. yy ampirist filozoflarını (Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Locke, Berkeley ve Hume) barındıran ve onların düşüncelerini içeren bir derleme. Dönemin düşünürlerini, düşünceleri ekseninde ele alması itibariyle merak uyandıran bir okumaydı, özellikle Locke ve Hume özelinde ilgim arttı diyebilirim.

Akılcılık ile okunmasını tavsiye ederim. Ben önce Ampirist Filozoflar'ı almıştım. Bu diğer kitap da Descartes, Spinoza ve Leibniz etrafında dönüyor diye tahmin ediyorum. Beraber okunursa tamamlayıcı olur.

Dilinin ağır olduğunu belirtmeliyim. Orijinalinde de kitaptaki gibi ağır bir dil olduğunu tahmin ediyorum, ancak Türkçe'ye geçerken daha da ağırlaşmış. İngilizce'de yaygın olan cümle yapıları olduğu gibi Türkçe'ye çevrilmiş gibi duruyor. İçerik hali hazırda yoğunken bu durum, kitabı okunması zor bir çeviriye dönüştürmüş.

Aynı dönemi anlatan alternatifi var ise değerlendirin derim. En azından hem bunu hem alternatifini okumuş olursunuz.

[Sinan Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about to reach the information in an empiric way, which is a more usual and logical way for me. The Book consists of seven different Philosophers, who defend the source of human knowledge is the empiricism. I am also against Aristo‘s way of thinking. That‘s why I especially feel really into Thomas Hobbes‘s approach.

[Johnny Firic · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of one side of perhaps the most fascinating controversy in the history of Western philosophy. Quotes are plentiful and pertinent, the arguments explained in lay people's terms, and the biographical sketches I found to be appropriate in both length and placement. The Introduction places the thinkers discussed (Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Locke, Berkeley and Hume) within the broader contemporary trends. I can think of two shortcomings: the somewhat dry tone and a scarcity of specific references to the modern-day, or at least more recent, philosophers whom these guys influenced. Nonethess I will be sure to check out the other volumes in the series.